How Did They Make Indiana Jones Look Young in ‘Dial of Destiny?’- Armessa Movie News

Warning: This article contains minor spoilers for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.

The newest Indiana Jones film, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, is set in 1969, over three decades since the events of Raiders of the Lost Ark. While the majority of the new film follows an older Dr. Jones as he battles a former Nazi amid retirement from his teaching position, the opening scene takes place in 1944 and features a much younger-looking Indy.

De-aging isn’t anything new for films, but while older attempts were clumsy at best, more recent ones tend to be more realistic (although many viewers think the Dial of Destiny de-aging still borders on uncanny). How did the crew behind the film make Harrison Ford, who’s currently 80-years-old, look nearly half his age?

Several techniques helped to de-age Indiana Jones

De-aging Indiana Jones was no simple feat and took several techniques to pull off. In an exclusive interview with Empire, director James Mangold remains relatively mum on the subject, though he shares ILM software (short for Industrial Light & Magic, a visual effects company founded by George Lucas) was used to comb through archived material of a younger Harrison Ford before matching it with the new footage. Although de-aging technology definitely did most of the work, the costume department helped out as well, fishing out Indiana Jones’ original jacket from Raiders of the Lost Ark, which was then “replicated thread-by-thread” for Ford to wear in the newly shot scene.

Producer Kathleen Kennedy acknowledged the reality that viewers will focus mostly on how the effect was achieved, but expressed her hope that they’d still appreciate how the de-aging is intended to make them feel.

My hope is that, although it will be talked about in terms of technology, you just watch it and go, ‘Oh my God, they just found footage. This was a thing they shot 40 years ago.’ We’re dropping you into an adventure, something Indy is looking for, and instantly you have that feeling, ‘I’m in an Indiana Jones movie.’

Kathleen Kennedy

While audiences found Ford’s aged voice coming out of a younger-looking Indy vaguely unsettling, Ford found the effect more convincing— albeit still unsettling. “This is the first time I’ve seen it where I believe it. It’s a little spooky,” the actor told Empire. “I don’t think I even want to know how it works, but it works.” We’re still not sure exactly how it works either, but de-aging tech has certainly come a long way.

About the author

Staci White

Since the moment she listened to her first Britney Spears CD at the tender age of six, Staci has been a lover of all things pop culture. She graduated from UCLA with a Bachelors in Linguistics and somehow turned her love of music, movies, and media into a career as a freelance writer. When she’s not writing for WGTC, she’s busy fulfilling her own pop star dreams as a singer/songwriter or hanging out at her local coffee shops.